Recently published accounts of all 20 clubs revealed that "more than two thirds" of the EPL's record £2.4B income in '11-12 "was paid out in wages," according to David Conn of the London GUARDIAN. The Guardian's annual special report of Premier League clubs' finances shows that they spent £1.6B on wages last season, "most of it going to players." The wage bill "accounted for 67% of clubs' turnover, a similar level to the two previous years" -- wages were 68% of income in '09-10, and 69% in '10-11. The accounts show that clubs "are generally becoming better run financially." In '09-10, the 20 Premier League clubs "made an overall loss" of £484M. In '10-11 that figure had fallen to £361M. In '11-12, 12 of the 20 clubs "made losses, but the overall figure was £205M." This was largely accounted for by Man City, which reduced its record loss of £197M in '11 to £99M last year. At £202M, City's wage bill, "fuelled by the cash injection" from club Owner Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, was the Premier League's highest, almost £30M more than the £173M paid by Roman Abramovich's Chelsea. (GUARDIAN, 4/18).
DIRECTORS EARN TOP DOLLAR: In another piece for the GUARDIAN, Conn reported "the financial rewards for the highest paid directors at Premier League football clubs vastly outstrip directors' earnings at non-football companies of a similar size." The league's top director's salary was at ManU, where the highest remuneration, thought to be that of the CEO David Gill, was £2.6M in '11-12. Research by the Chartered Management Institute and XpertHR showed that "was more than 10 times the average" CEO's salary at U.K. companies. They found that the average U.K. CEO's salary last year was £215,879, while the average director's salary for a company of up to £249M turnover, which is all EPL clubs except ManU, was £150,876. Most Premier League clubs, though, "have for years far exceeded the average pay level for directors." For '11-12, Tottenham Hotspur Chair Daniel Levy was paid £2.2M, while Arsenal paid CEO Ivan Gazidis a gross £2.05M (GUARDIAN, 4/18).
The full Premier League data.
